Improving Health and Creating Socioeconomic Opportunity for HIV+ Adolescents

Partners in Health/APZU (Abwenzi Pa Za Umoyo) in Malawi empowers adolescents aged 10 - 19 living with HIV through medical care, skills training and networking to realise their potential and become productive members of their community. Students are trained in tailoring, brick laying, motorcycle and motor vehicle mechanics. Today, adolescents who were stigmatised and lacked supportive health services are able to participate in the workforce.

The Aspire Project is funded by Julius Baer Foundation to serve HIV+ adolescents in the field of care provision and engagement, mental health, and the creation of social economic opportunities. Its goal is to achieve long-term improvements in health outcomes and socioeconomic condition of adolescents living with HIV in Neno District.

Patrick Francis comes from Tsoka Village TA Dambe, in Neno. He lives with his grandmother after losing both parents to AIDS. He dropped out of primary school, due to poverty and other social factors.

As a school drop-out, he was just living without any hope of a bright future. After graduating from Teen Club, with support from the ASPIRE Project, he was enrolled in a 5-month vocational training programme to become a tailor. Eight months after graduation, he has established himself as a tailor in his community. 

This is Patrick’s story in his own words.

"Thanks to the tailoring skills I developed with support from Abwenzi pa Za Umoyo, I am now able to earn a living and care for my grandmother and my siblings. I have purchased a home theatre, a solar battery and pigeons that I am raising. This season, I managed to sell 15 bags of maize for 750,000 MK (malawi-kwacha). Additionally, I secured a contract worth 450,000 MK to make clothes for women at the Village Savings and Loans (VSL) association in my community, bringing my total earnings to 1,200,000 MK.

To improve my mobility when procuring raw materials in Mwanza and back, I bought a motorcycle for 800,000 MK. I also invested in fertilizer for my garden.

By next year, if all things are equal, I plan to purchase another sewing machine to give to my younger brother, whom I trained, in order to expand my business”